


An Evening of Fire and Ice

by Muccamukk



Category: Band of Brothers (TV 2001)
Genre: BDSM, Body Worship, Bondage, Canon Era, Episode: s01e05 Crossroads, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Painplay, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Safe Sane and Consensual, Temperature Play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:07:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22174528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muccamukk/pseuds/Muccamukk
Summary: "Anything you wanna do?" Johnny asked.Bull shrugged. He was blushing, just a little colour showing along his cheekbones. He said in a low voice, "I dunno, why don't you surprise me?""Okay," Johnny told him. He let his hand fall high up on Bull's thigh and rested it there a moment. "I'll do that."
Relationships: Johnny Martin/Bull Randleman
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30
Collections: Loose Lips Sink Ships Prompt Meme





	An Evening of Fire and Ice

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Loose Lips Sink Shiips meme](https://looselipssinkships.altervista.org/index.php) prompt: "Top!Johnny. Bull has been waiting all his life for someone to hold him down like that."
> 
> Fic contains SSC kinky sex, please check out the tags to see if it's your kind of thing.

"Anything you wanna do?" Johnny asked.

Bull shrugged. He was blushing, just a little colour showing along his cheekbones. He said in a low voice, "I dunno, why don't you surprise me?"

"Okay," Johnny told him. He let his hand fall high up on Bull's thigh and rested it there a moment. "I'll do that."

The train pulled into Rheims right after, and they didn't get much more chance to talk. Johnny shelled out for a billet on a quiet street, and then said he needed to pick up a few things. He stood on his toes to say into Bull's ear, "Think you could wait up for me?"

"Maybe I could," Bull answered, nodding slightly. He shouldered both their bags and hauled them up to their room.

Johnny went in search of the local purveyor of all things black market.

Forty minutes later, Johnny hummed to himself as he jogged up the stairs two at a time. His anticipation was rewarded by the sight of Bull lying sprawled across a wood-framed double bed, naked as the day he was born. He had his arms folded behind his head and was staring idly at the ceiling, but from the way one leg was cocked and the gleam on his inner thigh, Johnny knew he'd gotten his ass ready.

The idea that Johnny could just go over to the bed, open his fly and push right into Bull almost made him change his plans. He could circle back around to his original idea later, once he'd shoved Bull down onto the bed and taken him hard and fast like he needed.

Problem was, the ice would've melted by then.

"You start without me?" Johnny asked as he crossed to the bed.

Bull smirked. "Maybe a little," he said. "You took an awful long while."

Johnny unpacked the paper bag onto the dresser, the contents not giving much of his plans away, and then started to undress.

"What'd you find?" Bull asked.

"You said to surprise you," Johnny told him. "Now roll over, and lemme surprise you."

Bull raised his eyebrows, but didn't protest. He rolled onto his stomach with his face turned towards Johnny and his arms down at his sides, looking utterly relaxed. Only the way his thumb and forefinger rubbed together in circles gave away his nervous anticipation.

Johnny made sure a few more things were at the top of his barracks bag, lit some candles, then climbed onto the bed. He knelt astride Bull's thighs and looked up his body appraisingly. Bull's broad ass rose just in front of Johnny's hips, then dipped down to the small of his back. He was thick around the waist, but it led up to the smooth plane of his back and massive shoulders. The candlelight caught in Bull's blond curls, making them ruddy. Johnny leaned down and stroked Bull's hair.

Bull leaned into his touch. His eyes were closed and he looked peaceful. Johnny could never quite believe that a man like Bull would lie quiet under him and wait to see what he'd do. It felt too much like the stuff of fantasy, and yet here Bull was. Every time he was faced with the reality of it, Johnny felt a flush of pride and satisfaction war with a tenderness he didn't know how to put words to: a need to prove that he was worth that kind of trust and affection.

Johnny dropped his hand to Bull's lips, and let him suck Johnny's fingers for a moment. His tongue played against the pads, soft and gentle, promising what he'd do if Johnny got around to asking Bull to suck his dick. The first time that had happened had been like a revelation from the Lord.

Finally, Johnny drew his hand back, and reached for the first thing off the dresser. It was a pretty little bottle, like girls got perfume in, but a little larger. Johnny poured some on his hands, and it filled the room with a soft, flowery smell, just like the man had promised. It wasn't roses, but something light and sweet that Johnny didn't recognise.

"You rob a florist?" Bull asked.

"It's massage oil," Johnny said. He dropped his oiled hands to Bull's shoulders and started to spread the slick across them. His skin felt impossibly smooth under the oil, and Johnny spread it until it started to thin, then poured more onto his hands. He worked slowly, covering all of Bull's back and arms with the oil, from the nape of his neck right down to the curve of his ass.

Bull murmured softly in approval as Johnny kneaded the muscles of his upper thighs, running his thumbs between them until Bull had to shift against the bed as he grew hard.

"You like that?" Johnny asked.

Bull hummed a yes, but didn't move. Johnny wouldn't have thought he was falling asleep, except his breath was getting faster not slower.

Leaning forward, Johnny started to massage the back of Bull's neck, rubbing oil into the prickle of hairs where his cut was starting to grow in. He moved down to Bull's shoulders next. The wound from Holland had healed, but still left a jagged pink line across Bull's skin. Johnny was gentle around it, not digging into that shoulder like he did Bull's good arm. With his good arm, Johnny pressed his fingers into the knots of muscle and grinned fiercely as Bull moaned in a mix of pleasure and pain. He worked the big muscles first, then down the sides of Bull's spine, and out across the plane of his ribs. Bull was so incredibly strong, but he melted under Johnny's hands, murmuring softly Johnny dug his thumbs into the joint of his back and hips. The oil made it easy to slide over tense muscles until he'd rubbed the pain out of them. All it took was patience, and strong hands.

When he started to work Bull's ass, Johnny again noticed that he'd slicked himself up while Johnny had been gone. He pulled Bull's cheeks apart and brushed his thumbs over his hole, making Bull whimper and rock his hips against the bed.

"Need it real bad, huh?" Johnny asked, and Bull nodded wordlessly. Johnny's thumbs sank into Bull's with hardly any resistance. God, he was so relaxed, he probably wouldn't even fell Johnny slide into him. "Could put my whole hand in there."

"Jesus," Bull gasped, and Johnny thought about that, but it wasn't what he had planned.

"Maybe some other time," he said, "If you ask me real nice." He shifted so that he was kneeling between Bull's knees instead of astride them, and started to massage down his thick calves. He'd spent a lot of hours in PT watching those legs stretch and work under little black shorts, and more time since watching them strain for control while Johnny toyed with Bull's body. He'd massaged them, and licked them, shaved them smooth, and fucked them. Johnny would say he had a thing for Bull's thighs, except he felt that way about every part of his body.

When he was done with Bull's legs, he started at his neck again, digging deeper this time, finding every last scrap of tension and teasing it out. Bull had lost coherence some time ago, and was now lying as though dead, grunting softly into the pillow every time Johnny's fingers worked a knot apart. He let Johnny lift his arm and run his hands down his biceps until Johnny circled his wrist tightly with his own hands. Bull whined at being held like that, a high pleading sound, that reminded Johnny of all the things he'd done to Bull while he'd had his hands pinned. Bull had a way of begging for more that threw all of Johnny's restraint out the window.

"Later," Johnny said. He picked up Bull's hand and massaged the palm with his thumbs, then kissed the fingertips. "I'll give you everything you want later."

"You _are_ everything I want," Bull murmured.

Johnny never knew what to say when Bull laid his heart out like that. It made his chest puff up with pride and his throat tighten at the same time. The rush of satisfaction at having someone like Bull wrapped around his little finger tampered only by the edge of terror that somehow Johnny would fuck it up and actually hurt him, or do something else to lose that overwhelming affection.

Unable to hold himself back any longer, Johnny put Bull's hand down and urged him to kneel in front of him. Bull kept his head on the pillow, wrapping his arms around it, but lifted his ass high and spread his legs, presenting himself to Johnny.

Johnny had been right that it was easy to slide his dick into Bull's ass. He was wrong that Bull wouldn't notice. Bull moaned appreciatively and clenched down around him. Their first time—when Bull had stutteringly admitted that he'd much preferred to be the one getting fucked—Johnny had worried that he wouldn't be big enough, but Bull had always said he liked how Johnny felt inside him, and he was always eager for more. Now, he set up a slow rhythm, thrusting into the heat of Bull's ass while Bull moaned into the pillow.

"Ya need this, don't you?" Johnny asked, already knowing the answer. "Need me to screw you, fill you right up. You're aching for it all the time I'm not inside you, aren't you?"

He'd used to feel awkward with that kind of filthy talk, but the way it made Bull almost sob with pleasure egged Johnny on. He'd have to work Bull a bit more to get him to say it himself, but he sure liked hearing it from Johnny.

"Ain't nobody else who knows how to treat you right, is there?" Johnny asked. "All the little things you need, the ways to make you come so hard you can't move for a week? No one else has..." he had to stop there. Bull felt too perfect around his dick, and if he kept talking, he was going to loose focus and not live up to his high talk. Johnny held onto Bull's hips and concentrated on thrusting his whole length into him. Bull liked the friction of being entered as much as Johnny liked the tight slide across his dick. Bull groaned and spread his legs wider, trying to take every fraction of an inch of Johnny's cock he could. His own cock hung heavy and hard between his legs, but neither of them touched it.

Johnny bit the inside of his cheek and threw his head back, but couldn't keep his pace from quickening, his thrusts from growing shallower. His skin raced with pleasure, little sparks seeming to jump across it, tingling from his scalp all the way down his spine. The air cooled his sweaty skin, but he hardly noticed. All he could see was his cock sliding in and out of Bull's perfect ass, and the board expanse of his back, the little rolls of fat and muscle at the back of his neck. Johnny could only see a sliver of Bull's face, the short stub of blond eyelashes, squeezed shut and beads of tears on them, a jawline slack with pleasure, the stub of his nose, which Johnny irrationally always wanted to kiss.

"God," he muttered and watched Bull's shoulders flex as he clutched the pillow each time Johnny's hips hit his ass. "God, you're beautiful."

He came and slumped forward across Bull's back, unable to brace himself on his oiled skin. Bull chuckled softly. Johnny grunted and rolled off of him, lying flat on his back beside Bull, who took the chance to lean over and kiss him.

Johnny was still seeing stars, and Bull's lips soft on his didn't quite seem real. He let himself be kissed, breathing hard through his nose. He got oil in Bull's hair when he stroked it, slicking it down onto his scalp. Johnny wanted to roll over and sleep sprawled across Bull's body, or curl up and let Bull wrap him tight in his arms, but Bull was still hard, and Johnny was just getting started.

Still, Johnny lay quiet until Bull was done kissing him. There was no sense rushing a good thing. When Bull finally drew away, Johnny sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He swatted at Bull's ass playfully, fingers just grazing it, and said, "Come on, roll over for me, and I'll look after you."

"Will you?" Bull asked. There was a gleam in his eye that told Johnny he wanted more than just to get sucked off, or even ridden. That was fine. As Bull rolled onto his back, Johnny pulled a pair of trench knives out of his ruck. One he laid on the dresser, the other he stick in one of the jars he'd brought form the shop. When he'd done that, he pulled out four pieces of rope, slick jute stuff that he'd hated to cut to length. Until he'd thought about how it would look tied around Bull's pale skin.

Bull was lying flat on his back in the middle of the bed, his legs spread slightly, his cock standing upright in the centre of his body. He was thick and uncut, and it always took Johnny some time to fuck himself on him. He had to wait, he told himself. He wanted to feel Bull inside him now, while his skin was still sparking and sensitive from coming, but it would be better if he waited. Bull raised his head to look when Johnny laid all four pieces of rope across his stomach. He licked his lips, then looked up at Johnny with wide, hopeful eyes.

Johnny had never known someone so eager to take everything he could get and still soak up more. He took Bull's right ankle first and pulled it towards the corner of the bed. The rope was smooth and heavy and required thick knots, but Johnny still made sure to wrap it around several times so it wouldn't pull or chafe. Bull's calf trembled under his fingers, he was that needy for it, but Johnny took his time.

When he was done, he tugged it up and down, making sure it wouldn't slide off or somehow pull tight. It was snug around Bull's ankle, but wouldn't cut the blood to his foot. He ran his hand up and down Bull's leg. His muscles had tensed up some, but weren't taut and knotted like they had been. Johnny's hands stopped just shy of grazing Bull's balls, and Bull closed his eyes and whimpered. He knew that this would be a long, slow haul, and Johnny was going to make sure they both enjoyed every minute of it.

The free end of the rope wrapped around one of the bed posts, hitching to the frame with only the smallest bit of slack in it. Johnny pulled Bull's other leg away so that his legs were spread wide, then bound that as well. He stood at the foot of the bed for a moment, enjoying the way the V of Bull's thighs joined in the patch of blond hair around his balls. His cock jutted up dark against his pale stomach. Johnny hadn't so much as touched it yet, and already the tip was beaded with precome.

Johnny took Bull's right arm from his side and kissed the backs of his knuckles before raising it over his head. He spread it out wide and tied it right to the corner of the bed. As strong as Bull was, his wrist felt fragile in Johnny's hands as he wrapped the rope around it and knotted it tight. Bull's arms were still slippery with the oil, and Johnny wanted to make sure he couldn't wiggle free. When he was done, he kissed Bull's palm, and let Bull curl his fingers in to caress his cheek.

"Is this all right?" Johnny asked when it came to Bull's left arm, but Bull flexed and pulled, then nodded. "Last thing I wanna do is explain what you were doing when you blew your shoulder out," Johnny added, and Bull pulled a face.

When Johnny was done, Bull pulled against the ropes sharply, making the whole bedframe shudder, but the bed held, and the ropes did too. Johnny watched Bull's muscles strain against his bonds, and felt the twin flushes of accomplishment, even mastery, and protectiveness fill him. When Bull slumped back against the bed, panting, Johnny leaned over and brushed his hair off his forehead before kissing him. Bull raised his head to kiss back greedily, using his mouth to hold and claim Johnny now that his hands were taken away. Johnny allowed it for a moment, then stood up again.

Johnny knelt on the edge of the bed, just out of Bull's reach, and started to stretch himself open with his fingers. He knew how relaxed he'd have to be to fuck himself on Bull's cock, and that he couldn't rush it, but watching Bull lying there, tied down and obviously eager made taking his time difficult. Johnny's ass was sensitive so soon after having come, and even thrusting his own fingers into himself felt sinfully good. He gasped at the pleasure of it when he put a second finger inside himself, and met Bull's eyes. Bull shifted on the bed, raising his hips as though already imagining Johnny sinking down onto him. He didn't have enough play in the ropes to move much though. He frowned at Johnny, frustrated.

"Just you, ah, just you wait," Johnny gasped as he pumped his fingers into himself. This always took longer than he wanted it too, and he wished he'd left one of Bull's hands free so that Bull could either do it for him or give him his fingers to suck or pet his hair. Johnny dropped his head and took deep breaths to relax. He could feel his muscles loosening under his touch.

"You look something fine when you do that," Bull said. Johnny couldn't see how. He was crouching, panting open mouthed, grinding down on his own hand. His hair was starting to stick to his forehead, and his cock was sloppy from Bull's ass. When Johnny looked up, Bull was staring at him like he was Greta Garbo in her underthings. Johnny never had figured how Bull's head worked.

He pulled his hands free and went to kneel astride Bull's stomach. Bull strained up against the ropes, parting his lips for a kiss, and Johnny dropped a teasing one to the corner of his mouth before pulling away. He wouldn't give him a proper one, not yet. Johnny took hold of Bull's cock with his oiled hand and slicked it a couple of times, watching Bull bite his lip and screw his face up to keep from crying out. He'd lose that control soon enough, Johnny thought. He kept holding Bull's dick and edged backward to sink down onto it. He had to close his eyes and focus on breathing, one steady pull of air at a time. He couldn't let himself think about how far down he would have to sink, how much he would have to take.

The head of Bull's dick stretched him almost too wide, and Johnny whimpered at the pressure. Bull jerked against the ropes, like he wanted to be able to reach up and stop Johnny, or maybe pull him down faster. Either way, the headboard shuddered but held. Finally, Johnny's ass stretched and accepted Bull's dick inside. From there it was just a matter of rocking himself up and down, sinking a little further each time, until he was sitting flat on Bull's thighs. Bull was gasping by the time Johnny settled, still tugging and straining against the ropes, still eager to touch Johnny.

Johnny knew that his own face was flushed with heat, and he took a moment to catch his breath. Now that he had Bull inside him, the stretch settled into something more comfortable. He still felt full almost past his limit, but it didn't hurt. It was different than getting ploughed by a big guy like this; here Johnny was on top and in control of how he moved. The slight lift of Bull's hips as he tried to thrust into Johnny did next to nothing.

"Knock it off," Johnny admonished anyway. He reached down and pinched Bull's nipple sharply. Bull sucked in a breath and went utterly still. He watched in open-mouthed anticipation as Johnny smoothed his thumb over Bull's nipple, soothing it. He ran both hands over Bull's chest. It was damp with sweat, and the fine blond hair clung to his fingers. Bull shivered under him, and looked up at Johnny, eyes dark with wanting more.

Again, Johnny gave Bull his fingers to suck, and Bull lapped at them while looking Johnny right in the eye. "I can give you this and more," his gaze said as his tongue worked over Johnny's fingers, "just let me have the chance to show you."

"You're here to take what I give ya," Johnny reminded him. "That's what you want, ain't it?"

He didn't take his fingers out of Bull's mouth, not giving him any way to answer, but he felt Bull moan in anticipation under him, and Bull's hips lifted just a little bit. He wanted what Johnny was going to do so bad he didn't have words for it, and they both knew it.

Johnny reached forward to the side table, lifting off Bull's cock a little as he reached. He took the trench knife off the dresser and held the blade in the flame of the candle. Bull's breath quickened when he saw what Johnny was doing, but Johnny could tell from the relaxed line of his jaw and the softness around his eyes that it was anticipation not fear.

After a moment, Johnny pulled the blade out of the flame and checked it against the back of his arm, wincing as he did. He shifted it to his left hand and took the second knife out of the ice. It dripped melt water onto Bull's chest, making him hiss and flinch away.

"Ya look like a pirate," Bull said, eyeing the knives in Johnny's hands.

"Arrr!" Johnny said, and laughed. He sank back down onto Bull's cock, and rested there for a moment, watching Bull try to cool and still himself for what he knew was coming. Bull's face set and his breathing slowed to something steady and deliberate, like he was counting each exhalation.

Johnny touched the heated knife to the top of Bull's chest, just below his right collar bone, holding the flat of the blade against Bull's skin. Bull let out a small, trapped sound, and Johnny lifted the knife. It had left a triangle of pink skin behind it. Right away, he touched the cold knife to the same spot, watching as Bull bit his lip and tried not to cry. Bull's breath shook as he drew it in, but he held it together. He wasn't pulling at the ropes yet, but he rolled his hips under Johnny, trying to thrust up into him. The pink mark had faded a little when Johnny lifted the knife. He looked at Bull and raised his eyebrows. Bull nodded slightly. All right.

Johnny had to hold the first knife down longer the second time, putting this mark over his sternum, its heat dissipating into the air. Bull gasped and struggled for control, still feeling like he could hold on, hide his reactions. He still felt like he had to be strong. Johnny leaned forward again, clenching his ass as he rose off Bull's cock, and dropped one knife into the ice while holding the other to the flame. The light reflected off the metal, making the blade golden even as its smoke-darkened the tip.

"Jeeeesuuuus," Bull hissed when Johnny touched the hot metal to his chest again at the same time as he sank down. The cold followed a second later, both marking just above Bull's left nipple. The three marks made a diagonal line across the top of his chest. Johnny started the second line, with a mark below Bull's right nipple. He knew Bull was sensitive there, that the hot metal would cut through his restraint.

Bull bucked, his massive arms wrenching against the restraints, but only the smallest whimper escaped his lips. He wasn't going to let Johnny hear him hurting, not even when Johnny replaced the fire with ice and held it down hard enough to dimple his skin. Before Johnny had even lifted the cold off, before he put the heated knife down on the centre of Bull's chest just where his ribs ended. Bull bit his lips and thrashed his head to one side, still tugging at his bonds. Johnny knew that the sensation was building with every touch, like Johnny kept throwing stones into still water. Each ripple of pain built as it ran into the next, until Bull's whole body reflected nothing else. Even the cooler knife against his side above his kidney made Bull writhe now.

Johnny had to hold himself as steady as he could. Each time Bull bucked or strained underneath him, it drove his cock up into Johnny's ass, pushing the breath out of him. Johnny had to flex his legs to keep his balance over Bull, and clench his teeth to keep a hold of himself. He was getting hard again already, or trying to. God, he had no idea how someone could feel as perfect inside him as Bull did right now.

He pressed the heated knife right above Bull's kidney on the right side, holding it down hard.

Now, finally, Bull cried out. It was a low, dragged-out sound that vibrated through his whole body, like Johnny had wrapped his hand around Bull's heart and was slowly ripping it out. It cut off in a sharp cry when Johnny replaced hot with cold. Bull was gasping in breath after breath, but not straining against the ropes any more. Instead he lay paralysed under Johnny, shaking in anticipation, trying to hold himself together by pure grit. How he hadn't come yet, Johnny had no idea. Bull had more control than anyone Johnny had ever been with, more than seemed possible.

Johnny paused, rising up off Bull so that he could lean forward and heat the knife again, watching Bull shake apart underneath him. His skin was flushed red and slicked with perspiration, hair clinging to his skin. His chest rose and fell with each panting breath, and his muscles trembled and jerked, almost out of his control.

Johnny thought he heard his name in the next cry, when he held the hot knife a little below Bull's navel. It wouldn't take much to shake him apart, Johnny knew. Just a little more. He didn't fuss much with the next few marks, laying them quickly across Bull's stomach and the blade of his hip. Bull was whimpering by then, each breath not quite a sob of pain, but close. His eyes were closed and his face turned away and pressed against his arm, but his eyes snapped open when Johnny cast the knives aside. They clanked onto the floor, and Bull looked up at him with wide pleading eyes.

"Please," he whispered, voice broken, close to panic, close to release. "Please. I need more."

"I know," Johnny told him. He rose off Bull's cock, clenching down to make him really feel the slide, and leaned forward enough to kiss Bull on the mouth. Bull wasn't with it enough to kiss back properly, but that was all right. Johnny had just needed to taste him, and to whisper in a small, fierce voice, "Don't I always give ya everything you need?"

Bull nodded and let his head fall back against the pillow. He didn't turn away again, but watched avidly, urging him forward as Johnny reached up and fished a handful of ice cubes out of the melt water. He slipped one between Bull's lips for him to suck on, and watched as his throat bobbed. Bull's moan of pleasure at the ice in his mouth did more to turn Johnny on than anything he'd done yet.

Leaving a dripping trail of ice water across Bull's chest, Johnny reached behind himself and brushed the ice over Bull's balls before pushing one into his ass. That, finally made Bull strain against the ropes again. Johnny felt Bull's whole body tense and fight the feeling of the ice inside him, and in the end surrender to it, but only for a moment. Only until Johnny held the rest of the ice to one of Bull's nipples, melting water streaming across his chest, and bent down to suck at Bull's other nipple with a hot mouth.

As his teeth sank down, Bull screamed, and spasmed under Johnny, and then finally come. He didn't cry out again, but let out a long, wavering breath as he finally let himself go. His body was stiff with the pressure of the orgasm cut something inside Bull relaxed for the first time that night. Johnny could see it in Bull's eyes, the moment of freedom he'd found, and exulted with him.

Already filling him past bearing, Bull's come spilled out of Johnny and him and then start dripping out of his ass and down over Bull's balls. As the next wave of pleasure rolled over Bull, he let out a muffled cry, like he knew he was dying, and Johnny smoothed his hand out flat, brushing the ice away. He stroked down Bull's chest and licked apologetically at his nipple, knowing it wouldn't ease the pain. Every touch would just add more sensation on top of what Bull was feeling, not lessen any of it.

Bull didn't stop whimpering even when his body went slack under Johnny's. Every time Johnny moved even a little, he'd whine in response. His eyes were closed and wet with tears, and his face screwed up. It was all too much, even after the release. Johnny was pleasantly hard, but not in way that needed immediate satisfaction. He could wait while he looked after Bull.

"Johnny?" Bull asked as Johnny rose up off of him, letting his cock slide out of his ass.

"Yeah, I got you," Johnny told him. He straddled Bull's stomach and leaned down to tug the knots free on his wrist. He'd tied them so they'd come undone even with tension on the ropes.

As soon as Bull got on arm free, he wrapped it around Johnny's waist, and once he had the other one, he crushed Johnny down to his chest. he didn't seem to care about the tender burned skin, or what a mess of sweat and melted water he was. He pulled Johnny down so tight that Johnny could feel Bull's heartbeat pounding against his ribs. It was slowing, gradually, but still thundered through both their bodies.

"That's right, I'm right here." Johnny buried his hands in Bull's hair and just left them twined there. He wanted Bull to feel seen, to remember that Johnny was holding on just as tight as Bull was in his own way. "You were so good for me. You held on so long. I got no idea how you did that. You were perfect. You're always perfect." It was more than Johnny usually liked to run his mouth, but it seemed like moments like these he couldn't shut up. The release Bull felt infected him, letting him show his heart unabashedly.

Bull just held on tighter, squeezing the breath out of Johnny until neither of them could speak. His legs were still tied to the bed, but he didn't seem to mind.

Johnny did. He didn't want to restrain Bull a moment longer, and he wriggled down and out of his grip until he could turn around and free his legs. When he was done, he yanked the blankets out from under Bull and wrapped them over both of them. The sheets had gotten tangled in there somewhere, but Johnny didn't really give a shit. All that mattered was that he could sprawl across Bull's chest, weighing him down. Johnny held onto Bull's shoulder with one hand, fingertips brushing the scar, and clutched his bicep with the other. His ear was right over Bull's heart, and he listened as Bull's heart slowed to a strong steady rhythm. The drying perspiration made Bull's skin tacky, but Johnny didn't mind. They could shower later.

Bull kissed Johnny's hair and tugged the blankets closer. The room smelled like sweat and sex and the guttering candles, and they were warm and safe with no one shooting at them. Johnny had vague hopes that Bull would let him screw him again later, but wanted to nap first.

"Johnny," Bull said, and Johnny raised his head at the tone. He could tell that Bull'd been working over something in his mind, and wouldn't let go of it until he spoke his peace.

"Yeah?"

"I never"—Johnny heard Bull's throat work as he swallowed—"I never been with no one who'd treat me like you do, like I want to be treated." His hand tightened on Johnny's shoulder for a moment before spreading out and smoothing down his spine. "Fellows look at me, and think they know what I want, even when I say I ain't like that."

Johnny felt a spike of shame. He'd thought exactly that, first time he'd sized Bull up: here's a guy who'd like to push me around some; wonder how I'd like it? "You ain't like nothing," Johnny snapped. "There ain't no one else out there like you."

"Shit. Johnny." Bull's breath hitched under Johnny's ear, and he swallowed again before he said almost too soft to hear, "You say the sweetest things, sometimes."

"Shut it," Johnny grumbled, but he was pleased that Bull thought so. He wanted to treat him right, to give him everything he asked for, and more, everything he dreamed of. A tight, possessive pride filled his chest and made him grab Bull tighter. Johnny had done well, and Bull loved him for it.

Maybe that wasn't much in the face of a whole war, but for the moment, it was enough.


End file.
